Freelancer Fast 50: Pinterest on the Rise

It is no secret that the number of social networking site users has been steadily increasing at a significant rate. About 74 percent of online adults take a slice in the social media pie. Facebook leads with 71 percent users, LinkedIn comes second with 22 percent, and newcomer Pinterest with 21 percent bests Twitter’s 19 percent.

The star in this quarter’s Freelancer.com Fast 50 is not the figures or the constant domination of Facebook, but the breakthrough of Pinterest, the fastest independently launched site to reach 10 million unique monthly visitors*.

The habits of social media users have changed since the launch of smartphones and tablets that do not only compete in size and operating system, but also in specs like camera pixels and built-in editing options. Taking pictures and posting while on the go have been a popular practice, and Pinterest users take part in “socializing” by simply pinning, sharing, and commenting on the photos.

Users have created over 750 million boards to date, which include more than 30 billion individual pins. These boards receive a staggering 54 million pins daily. During the holiday season last year, Pinterest accounted for nearly a quarter of all social sharing activity and came second to Facebook when it came to driving traffic to websites.

The platform once dismissed by critics as an unremarkable site for scrapbooking now has a user count of over 70 million. This number is relatively small compared to its competitors, but the fact that it has a lucrative niche – 80 percent of the users are women – and strong user engagement – an average user spends 98 minutes per month – got advertisers excited.

When Pinterest released a number of products targeted for eCommerce advertisers, including the much-awaited Promoted Pins, businesses sought mediums to prepare. Pinterest jobs posted on Freelancer.com skyrocketed this quarter to 1,480 from 127 — a whopping 1,065 percent increase.

“In business and technology, it is common to see the underdogs suddenly rise up and knock the incumbent out of the top spot, which, in turn, shakes up the industry and changes consumer perceptions and the business landscape,” said Matt Barrie, Freelancer.com CEO.

Increase in Social Media Jobs on Freelancer.com

Overall, Q3 results have been dominated by a massive increase in Social Media jobs, 63 percent up from Q2. Apart from the rise of Pinterest, jobs in other social media platforms have gone up. Google Plus saw an increase of 532 percent, Social Media marketing up 96 percent, Twitter up 56 percent, and Facebook Marketing up 20 percent.